It is well known in the art that many hair styling procedures, such as cutting, blow styling, coloring, and chemical work, require the sectioning of the hair and the subsequent retention of the sectioned hair to facilitate working with either the sectioned hair or the remaining hair. When sectioning hair, the hair stylist uses comb, such as a rat-tail comb, to part a layer of hair. The stylist lifts the sectioned hair from the customer's scalp. The sectioned hair is grasped in the free hand and the rat-tail comb is released from the other hand, usually by putting the comb in the stylist's pocket, on a surface, or in the stylist's mouth. The hand formerly holding the comb picks up a clip and the sectioned hair is retained in the clip to keep it separated from the other sectioned hair and the remainder of the hair. The procedure is then repeated until the hair is sectioned as the styling procedure requires.
It is apparent that the procedure of the prior art is time consuming and inefficient due to the repeated transfers of tools between hands. The procedure and devices of the prior art have other drawbacks as well. First, to facilitate the sectioning and clipping, many stylists clip the clips to their shirt for easy access. The repeated clipping and unclipping of the clips to the stylist's clothing, however, causes wear to the stylist's clothing.
Moreover, as alluded to above, to speed the sectioning and clipping process, many stylists temporarily hold the comb in their mouths while clipping the hair. This can be unsanitary and, possibly, hazardous to the stylist when working with chemicals such as dyes.
While many improvements have been made to hair clips, there remain drawbacks to the devices of the prior art. Many conventional clips are intended to be worn as ornamentation or for holding part of a hair style in place. In other words, these clips are not suitable for temporary use while styling or coloring hair. Moreover, these clips are used in the same way as the clips described above. That is, a stylist using these clips must alternate between a comb and a clip when alternately sectioning and clipping the hair.
One clip known in the prior art includes a tapered lower jaw that is intended to be used to section the hair. However, the drawback of this clip is that the stylist must hold the clip open while sectioning the hair. This can cause wear on the clip and the clip spring, as well as being inconvenient to the stylist. Moreover, because the clip must be held open while sectioning the hair, this method and device can also cause repetitive stress injuries to the stylist's arm, hand, and wrist such as tennis elbow and carpal tunnel.
It can be seen, therefore, that there is a need in the art for a hair styling tool that can be used in an efficient and sanitary manner to section hair and retain the sectioned hair.